Walking down the street, at every corner, there is either an old, green walled shop or a modern, marble tiled outlet, both adorned with trays of delicious, lip-smacking and beautifully carved out sweets. Be it a festival, or a wedding, none of the events are complete without these little drops of sugar, milk, kheer and sometimes jaggery. Sweets are an integral part of this culture, so much so, even our famous movies such as ‘Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen’ by Satyajit Ray or ‘Mach Mishti n More’ by Mrinal has a reference to sweets. Sweets define the intricacies of this culture, and there is an incomplete feeling without it.
Kolkata, otherwise known as the ‘City of Joy’ is very well known for its immensely flavoured and mouth-watering sweets. If one decides to take a walk down the streets, especially North Kolkata streets, one is sure to come across the most soulful sweets as one can ever imagine.
So let me hold your hand and greet you with some of the most iconic sweets of our Kolkata.
Rosogolla. Sponge little balls dipped in sugary syrup, invented by Sri Nabin Chandra Das in Baghbazar, will surely melt your heart. Creates such a sugar rush, I can bet none can pass by without having it.
Sandesh. On the contrast, these are dry sweets of various shapes made using milk, khoya, sugar and variety of condiments such as almonds, dates, pistachios, and others. Be it the simple one or the Nolenguler Sandesh, it is usually stuffed and most people crave for it after a heavy lunch or dinner.
Mishti Doi. Sweetened curd, best enjoyed during the summers afternoon and one of the most coveted dessert for the Bengalis. Another variant of this is the Nolengurer Mishti Doi, enjoyed either solo or with everything during the winters.
Ledikeni. Thanks to the wife of Lord Canning, after whom this dessert derived its name, this brown sweet is just soft, melt in your mouth with a crunch outside. All dipped in sugary syrup, it will definitely steal your heart.
Malpoa. It’s a Bengali version of USA’s pancake but ours is usually stuffed with dry fruits and soaked with the sugary syrup. Best part of this desert is it is soft in the middle and crunchy at the sides.
Payesh. Be it simple one or the Nolengurer one, this desert in milk stuffed with dry fruits are meant to be enjoyed with everything and at any time of the day. Payesh is considered to be an auspicious dessert and usually marks the beginning of an event.
Pithe. Winters are just incomplete without this rice rolls stuffed with coconut, kheer and jaggery. Every Bengali household prefers to have this sweet on a winter evening than any other food.
Naru. Little brown balls of kheer, coconut and jaggery, Bengalis use this almost in every festival.
So these are some of the desserts which you should definitely try out in Kolkata. This city is full of sweet shops and the next time you are in Kolkata, do give it a try and let me know if you discover some more it.
Till then, nom nom nommm…….
Source:
https://www.nkrealtors.com/blog/journey-evolution-iconic-bengali-sweets/
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